Post navigation

The Plot Thickens – Overcoming A Writing Challenge

SHARING A #WRITING #CHALLENGE WITH YOU: I am about 80% through with the longest most complex fun novel I have ever written, “The Carneeg”; however, for the first time ever I noted that I was avoiding completing my work. I was writing poetry, researching marketing, working on our author’s meetUp group, learning new software…. Just not writing.

I told my wife, Evelyn, where I was in the story. She had read and quickly edited the first 200 pages 3 weeks earlier. I had added 50 pages but not more. Because the story is so complex and rich with world creation, I have 26 pages of notes which include my first attempt at interviewing my characters as @Alvin Wander, my friend and author, inspired me to do.

I needed someone to talk to about my problem so she listened. I told her wear I was in the story and I enumerated the 6 sub plots that were seeking resolution, most of which had started in the first 200 pages she had read.

As the wise teacher once said, “the solution is in the problem,” also a powerful 5,000 year old Rosicrucian teaching. When I finished, I knew why I was not writing and what I had to do. I had “felt” overwhelmed by the complexity of what I thought I had to keep in mind; however, in reality all I had to do was summarize the issues and speak them to another person. When I clearly formulated my challenge, I also formulated a question that my mind could ask of the muse and I had the answer. All I really needed to do was decide which were the main subplots, how they would resolve (completely in this book or partially for the next volume to come), decide what is a great ending for this series installment and write it. My books write themselves, I never know the ending. In this way it is as much fun writing it as reading it. I have my 26 pages of summary notes to reference and my editor will know if I have left anything untied. Tomorrow is the beginning of the end 🙂